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Facebook's alternative to networking gear makes headway

Matt Rourke / AP

Business Insider's Julie Bort has an interesting look at the early traction on Facebook's effort to create an open-source alternative to traditional (aka proprietary and expensive) networking gear. Facebook is partnering with major telecom companies around the world who are also keenly interested in developing cheaper alternatives to products from Cisco, Ericsson and others.

But: The piece mentions concerns about Facebook's growing power in the space, which an executive brushed off — saying that Facebook is "trying to help the telcos solve this."

Why it matters: Facebook has a huge stake in the physical infrastructure that supports its services. It isn't alone in trying to box out the traditional networking guys. AT&T recently announced it is testing homegrown networking gear built with a variety of chip and hardware partners.